APACI Influenza Workshop
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Date: Monday 24 October 2016
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Asia-Pacific Alliance for the Control of Influenza (APACI), in conjunction with the Malaysian Paediatric Association (MPA), the Malaysian Society of Infectious Diseases and Chemotherapy (MSIDC) and the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Malaysia (OGSM) held an Influenza Workshop in Kuala Lumpur on Monday 24 October 2016.
Session 1: Impact of Influenza
Session 2: Influenza Vaccination
Session 3: Treatment of Influenza
Session 4: Policy Considerations for Seasonal & Pandemic Influenza
Session 5: One Health Approach to Influenza Pandemic Preparedness
ProgramAPACI would like to thank our co-hosts the Malaysian Paediatric Association (MPA), the Malaysian Society of Infectious Diseases and Chemotherapy (MSIDC) and the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Malaysia (OGSM).
Speaker Biographies
Dr John Tam (Hong Kong)
Dr Tam is Chairman of APACI and Visiting Professor at the Department of Applied Biology & Chemical Technology, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China. He has worked for the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the Initiative for Vaccine Research and Global Influenza Programme. Before joining WHO, Dr Tam was employed in the private sector for several years dealing with research and development, and clinical assessment of vaccines including influenza and was also a professor of virology in the department of microbiology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
During the outbreak of avian influenza in Hong Kong in 1997, and the SARS outbreak in Asia in 2003, Dr Tam served as advisor to the WHO, the Hong Kong government, and other regional health authorities on disease control, diagnosis, and research. He was also the founding Chair of APACI. Dr Tam has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles. He received the Bronze Bauhinia Star medal in 2004, awarded by the Government of HK Special Administrative Region, China, for his “long and outstanding contribution to the medical services sector, particularly during the outbreak of SARS”.
Prof Lance Jennings (New Zealand)
Lance Jennings is an APACI Director and Clinical Virologist to the Canterbury District Health Board, Christchurch, New Zealand. He is also Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) National Measles Laboratory, Clinical Associate Professor in the Pathology Department, University of Otago, a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, London, and a Founding Fellow of the Science Faculty, Royal Australasian College of Pathologists. He serves on several Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture Advisory Committees, and is on the editorial board of the International Society for Influenza and other Respiratory Virus Disease (ISIRV) journal Influenza and other Respiratory Viruses.
Dr Jennings has also been a member of WHO/Western Pacific Region Office (WPRO) Avian Influenza Outbreak Response (2004) and Expert Influenza (2005) teams in Asia.
Presentation
Dr Fadzilah Binti Kamaludin (Malaysia)
Dato’ Dr Fadzilah Kamaludin, Public Health Medicine Specialist with MBBS (UM), Masters in Public Health Medicine (NUS) and Diploma in Laboratory Research (Tokyo) and member of the Academy Of Medicine Malaysia. She specialises in field epidemiology and spearheaded the Field Epidemiology Training Program (EIP Malaysia) since its inception in 2002. She is also the brainchild of the Public Health Laboratories and advisor to the newly approved CDC Malaysia. She is the ex-chairman of the Malaysian National Specialist Register (Public Health Chapter) and is still the current member of the committee.
She is the first Asian Woman to chair the TEPHINET Advisory Board based at US CDC and a current member of WHO Expert Committee for MersCoV, Asean+3FETN Steering Committee and WHO Technical Advisor for Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases (APSED). She is also a member of the Women Board of Directors Malaysia. Amongst her major accomplishment includes consultancies in developing the Joint Jordan, Israel and Palestine Standard Operating Procedure for Avian Influenza and conducting Joint Evaluation for Field Training Program for Laos PRD, Mongolia and Cambodia. She was invited by Google.Inc at Google HQ, Palo Alto, California as an expert opinion to develop digital disease and epidemiologist mapping. She is currently the editor for OSIR e-journal and book reviewer for the 20th edition of Control of Communicable Diseases Manual and e-learning curriculum for ‘Public Health Surveillance’. Her most current task is the Director of the Institute for Medical Research since 1st June this year. Dato’ Dr Fadzilah Kamaludin, Public Health Medicine Specialist with MBBS (UM), Masters in Public Health Medicine (NUS) and Diploma in Laboratory Research (Tokyo) and member of the Academy Of Medicine Malaysia. She specialises in field epidemiology and spearheaded the Field Epidemiology Training Program (EIP Malaysia) since its inception in 2002. She is also the brainchild of the Public Health Laboratories and advisor to the newly approved CDC Malaysia. She is the ex-chairman of the Malaysian National Specialist Register (Public Health Chapter) and is still the current member of the committee. She is the first Asian Woman to chair the TEPHINET Advisory Board based at US CDC and a current member of WHO Expert Committee for MersCoV, Asean+3FETN Steering Committee and WHO Technical Advisor for Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases (APSED). She is also a member of the Women Board of Directors Malaysia. Amongst her major accomplishment includes consultancies in developing the Joint Jordan, Israel and Palestine Standard Operating Procedure for Avian Influenza and conducting Joint Evaluation for Field Training Program for Laos PRD, Mongolia and Cambodia. She was invited by Google.Inc at Google HQ, Palo Alto, California as an expert opinion to develop digital disease and epidemiologist mapping. She is currently the editor for OSIR e-journal and book reviewer for the 20th edition of Control of Communicable Diseases Manual and e-learning curriculum for ‘Public Health Surveillance’. Her most current task is the Director of the Institute for Medical Research since 1st June this year.
Presentation
Dr Yasmin Gani (Malaysia)
Dr Gani is an Infectious Disease Physician at Hospital Sungai Buloh, Malaysia.
Presentation
Dr Anahita Chauhan (India)
Dr Chauhan is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Unit Head at the Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. She is also an Honorary Consultant at the Saifee and St Elizabeth Hospitals.
Presentation
Dr Tony Walls (New Zealand)
Tony Walls is a graduate of the University of Otago, having trained in Paediatrics at both Christchurch and Dunedin Hospitals. He trained as a Paediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at the Royal London Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. At this time he completed an M.D. through the University of London, focusing on adenovirus infection in children following bone marrow transplantation. He has an ongoing clinical interest in the management of infection in immunocompromised children.
Before returning to Christchurch he worked as a Consultant at Sydney Children’s Hospital, and was lead clinician for the Paediatric HIV Service. Tony has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Tertiary Teaching and is currently the convener of the Trainee Intern programme in Paediatrics. Along with Paediatric teaching he teaches about immunisation, primary immune deficiency and Paediatric Infectious Diseases as part of the Pathology teaching programme. His ongoing research interests include the infectious aetiology of otitis media, the epidemiology of multi-resistant organisms in NICU in New Zealand and Australia, molecular diagnosis of encephalitis and meningitis in children, and the epidemiology of varicella.
Presentation
Dr Carol Tan (Singapore)
Dr Carol Tan is a geriatrician by training. She was also with the Ministry of Health, Singapore and held concurrent appointments in the Epidemiology and Disease Control, Integrated Health Services and Health Finance Divisions. She also served as served as Deputy Director (Elderly and Disability Policy), Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and worked on the Prime Minster Office (Ageing) portfolio. She has been involved in direct patient care across the entire continuum including acute hospitals as well as in the intermediate and long-term care sector.
She has also been active in the development of geriatric medicine services in Singapore where she headed Geriatric Medicine units in both Changi General Hospital and Singapore General Hospital.
Presentation
Dr Raja Dhar (India)
Dr Raja Dhar is a Pulmonologist and a Critical Care Specialist with over 15 years of experience. He currently works at Fortis Kolkata. After finishing his MD in Respiratory Medicine from Calcutta University Dr. Dhar completed his MRCP and CCT from UK, and FCCP from USA. He is a member of many medical associations in India and abroad, and contributes regularly to several national and international journals.
Presentation
Prof Paul Van Buynder (Australia)
Professor Van Buynder completed undergraduate medical training at Melbourne University and a postgraduate Public Health Masters degree at Sydney University. He has worked in senior public health positions in a number of Australian states, in Canada and at the Centre for Infections in the United Kingdom. He is currently the staff specialist in Public Health with the Gold Coast Health Service and Chairman of the Immunisation Coalition. His research interests include effectiveness and tolerability of enhanced influenza vaccines, treatment of respiratory illnesses and marketing of vaccine programs.
Presentation
Prof Ben Cowling (Hong Kong)
Dr Cowling joined the School of Public Health at HKU in 2004. Prior to moving to Hong Kong, he graduated with a PhD in medical statistics at the University of Warwick (UK) in 2003, and spent a year as a postdoc at Imperial College London (UK). Dr Cowling has been the Head of the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics since 2013, he is responsible for teaching introductory modules in epidemiology and biostatistics on the MPH curriculum, and his primary research focus is in infectious disease epidemiology.
In recent years Dr Cowling has designed and implemented large field studies of influenza transmission in the community and the effectiveness and impact of control measures. His research aims to integrate information on transmission dynamics at the individual level with disease burden, severity and dynamics at the population level. His latest research has focused on the modes of respiratory virus transmission, influenza vaccine effectiveness, and the potential causes and implications of interference between respiratory viruses. He has strong links with China CDC, and the NIGMS-funded Harvard Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics.
Presentation
Dr Tawee Chotpitayasunondh (Thailand)
Dr Tawee Chotpitayasunondh is Associate Professor (Honour), Senior Medical Officer and a paediatric infectious diseases specialist consultant at the Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. A/ Professor Chotpitayasunondh gained his medical degree from Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand, and has been a paediatric infectious diseases specialist for 35 years. His particular areas of interest include vaccines, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, antibiotics and influenza, emerging infectious diseases and he has served as a WHO temporary consultant on paediatric HIV/AIDS, antivirals, avian/pandemic influenza.
Presentation
Prof Paul Ananth Tambyah (Singapore)
Paul Anantharajah Tambyah is currently Professor of Medicine at the National University of Singapore and Senior Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician at the National University Hospital. After completing medical school at NUS, and national service in the SAF Medical Corps, he did postgraduate work in Infectious Diseases at the University of Wisconsin with Dr Dennis Maki. Since returning to Singapore, he has served on a number of national and international committees including the Board of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology in America, as Assistant Dean of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and past President of the Society of Infectious Diseases (Singapore).
He is currently Secretary-General of the Asia-Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection. His main research interests are in device associated infections and emerging infectious diseases.
Presentation
Dr Wan Noraini Wan Mohamed Noor (Malaysia)
Dr. Wan Noraini Wan Mohamed Noor is a Public Health Physician by training. Currently she is the Head of Surveillance Sector, Disease Control Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia. She was appointed as one of the focal point from Malaysia for ASEAN Working Group on Pandemic Preparedness and Response (AWGPPR) i.e. one of the subsidiary bodies under ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development (SOMHD) from 2009-2012. In addition, she was a trainer and a facilitator of the Global Alert and Response Network (GOARN), World Health Organization.
She also served as part of the team involved in the prevention and control activities of the following major outbreaks particularly at the central level of MOH Malaysia; namely in responding to the Pandemic (H1N1) 2009, the emergence of influenza A(H7N9), the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa 2014.
Presentation
Clinical Prof David Smith (Australia)
David Smith is a is an APACI Director and Clinical Virologist at PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Director of PathWest services at the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre, and a Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Western Australia. His other roles include Director of the National Influenza Centre at PathWest and Chair of the Public Health Laboratory Network of Australia, as well as being a member of a number of professional and expert advisory committees.
Presentation
Dr Hui-Ling Yen (Hong Kong)
Dr. Hui-Ling Yen is Assistant Professor, Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences, University of Hong Kong. She received her Ph.D. in Epidemiological Science in 2005 from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor followed by her postdoctoral training at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN. Her research interests focus on understanding the mechanism facilitating the transmission of influenza A virus among and between different reservoirs, exploring the potential virus-host interactions that affect viral pathogenicity and the host clinical outcome, and examining the molecular determinants that confer antiviral resistance.
Dr. Yen is a Full Member of the American Society of Virology. She serves as an Editorial Board Member at Antiviral Research and an Academic Editor at PLoS ONE.
Presentation